Operators and Promoters: The Story of Molecular Biology and Its Creators (Hardcover)

by Harrison G. Echols (Author) "This book describes the creation of contemporary molecular biology..." (more)
Key Phrases: cohesive sites, genetic lock, attenuator site, Cold Spring Harbor, Cal Tech, Arthur Kornberg (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The New England Journal of Medicine
The sequencing of the human genome and the genomes of several pathogens clearly predicts a future for medicine in which molecular biology will be increasingly important. For this reason, it is critical to understand the principles of molecular biology, how we came to discover these principles, how future discoveries are likely to be made, and how we can best structure our research endeavors to make these discoveries. This monograph provides us with exceptionally readable answers to these questions.

Operators and Promoters is an affectionate, almost loving description of the field and many of its participants by a leading researcher in molecular biology, the late Harrison "Hatch" Echols. Tragically, Hatch died before the book was completed. It was finished by his wife, Carol Gross, also a distinguished molecular biologist, with the help of many of Hatch's and Carol's friends and colleagues.

On one level, this book is a survey of the important discoveries leading to our current understanding of how genes operate to determine the structure and function of cells (and organisms). As described by Hatch, the key philosophical approach of this science is the application of the principles of physics (through genetics) and chemistry (through biochemistry) to the study of biology. These principles were used to study relatively tractable, simple systems (bacteria and the viruses that infect bacteria). An assumption was made that there was sufficient universality in the molecular mechanisms underlying biology that these studies would be relevant to higher, more complex organisms such as Hatch, Carol, you, and me. In essence, biology was demystified. The book traces the sometimes chaotic and surprising and at other times straightforward and predictable discoveries that revealed the basic principles of gene expression, gene regulation, DNA replication, DNA recombination, and repair of DNA damage. Also described is the amazing world of RNA and the advent of genetic-engineering technology.

Even though this book would be valuable and timely as a survey of the field of molecular biology, it is really a vehicle for describing the participants and, more important, for describing how the field functioned as a mini-society. I suspect that all the main participants were known by Hatch personally. In little snippets, he captures key characteristics of many of them. In most cases, these descriptions vividly brought back my own memories. He is never particularly critical. Hatch was perhaps a bit too positive, but this is in keeping with his warm view of others.

The development of the science was uneven and sometimes chaotic. Creativity -- often among a few key people -- luck, and technological developments had major roles. Competition was there, too, but there is no doubt that Hatch favored a type of open, collaborative competition in which various investigators each wanted to succeed but also took great joy in the advancement of others in the field. Hatch describes this type of competition as follows: "At the first level of competition, all scientists want to think of the best ideas and the best experiments and to advance their field through telling others of our findings. In an atmosphere of open exchange of ideas and mutual trust and appreciation, the competition to be creative accelerates new understanding; the situation is somewhat analogous to trying to be the most valuable member of an athletic team." This first level of competition is followed by a desire for recognition outside the field and then by a quest for complete dominance of the field in the eyes of the outside world. Of course, some scientists skip the first stage or the first two stages. One of the missing analyses in the book is how the grant funding system may skew these different types of competition. In certain research areas, the participants consider it very difficult to obtain funding unless one is approaching the stage of complete dominance of the field.

Hatch also captures other features of our scientific culture. For instance, his description of scientific meetings is a gem: "The [meeting] is designed to exchange information and ideas through formal talks and informal discussions. The meeting is also a grown-up version of show and tell, in which scientists try to convince everyone else that they are doing the most interesting and exciting work and have the best ideas about how it all works. Each meeting also has a certain ambiance, which changes with the time and the particular cast of characters." Hatch is right. My third-grade show-and-tell experiences were good training for the meetings.

We should take seriously Hatch's views on scientific creativity as it relates to the structure of the scientific enterprise. He strongly favors the American system, in which young investigators can have independent laboratory groups and investigators feel that they can collaborate as well as compete. I believe that Hatch is correct in his analysis, but I am not at all sanguine that the current funding and university climates are going to continue supporting this type of scientific culture.

The book also reminds us that key discoveries are often surprising side products of research projects. These discoveries are not always the anticipated goals of experiments, nor will they be found in the specific aims of grant proposals. An important example is the discovery of type II restriction enzymes by Hamilton Smith while he was setting up the reagents for studying DNA recombination in Haemophilus influenzae.

Although the entire book is excellent, the sections that dwell on Hatch's direct experiences have an exciting and illuminating quality that are really inspiring. There are a few things that I feel are missing. First of all, it was a great tragedy that Hatch died before the book was completed. This is not just a personal statement -- there are issues that are missing that I would have liked the book to address, such as the use of genomic information in societal decision making. Hatch undoubtedly had opinions on this and other important issues that the editor could not and should not have tried to add to the book. Second, in keeping with Hatch's positive personality, it is hard to sense the pain that some scientists have felt during various competitions. This is unfortunately also an aspect of our scientific culture.

I strongly recommend this book for a wide variety of audiences. It will be enjoyable reading for everyone. Those who participated in the development of this field will take great joy in recalling specific events or participants. Young students contemplating a career in science often think that science is a hyperrational matter of finding the right equations or cloning the right gene. This book shows that science is an unpredictable and inescapably human enterprise, wrapped up in the personalities and interactions of its practitioners. For established scientists, it should give us pause to consider what is best about our enterprise and how to save it.

William S. Reznikoff, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2002 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Review
"It is the best kind of history, because it presents the ideas and experiments in their scientific and human context, so reading it is almost like living through the period again - and will make it come alive for those who arrived on the scene later." - Evelyn Witkin, Rutgers University; "It is an absolutely thrilling account of the development of molecular biology as we know it. I can barely contain my enthusiasm for it." - Robert Lehman, Stanford University Medical Center; "Echols was a gifted molecular biologist. We see now that he was also a talented storyteller. Echols enriches his tale of the molecular biology revolution with many first-person observations. Operators and Promoters presents not just the key concepts and experiments but also the personalities involved. The scholarship is superb." - Thomas R. Cech, President, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; "This book is alive with the process of doing molecular biology. The 'facts' of science are clearly and elegantly presented." - Nancy L. Craig, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; "In his book, Echols presents a combined perspective that no other 'insider' book offers: he is realistic about what makes people work, and their drives and flaws, but in equal measure he is passionate and idealistic about what science can be." - Sharon R. Long, Stanford University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 486 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520213319
• ISBN-13: 978-0520213319
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #477,831 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The other definitive history of molecular biology, November 12, 2004

By	readersf (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Hatch Echols was a well-known biologist. He spent years working on a personal history of his field. After his untimely death, his widow completed the manuscript. This book is the result. It is a history of molecular biology from about 1948 to about 1990. By molecular biology he means the attempt to understand biology using the tools of physics and chemistry. It is a superb book, as makes a fine compiment to the OTHER definitive history of molecular biology, Horace Freeland Judson's "Eighth Day of Creation". Judson's 1979(I think) book was a detailed account of three or four episodes in molecular biology, and stopped at 1970. Echols'book gives a much broader overview, focusing on the questions that arose and the people who answered them. The margins are graced by line drawings of the the major actors, done by the author. The result is a fine account of both the science (briefly) and those who made it. Most of the participants were his friends, and it shows. On the other hand, unlike most books, I am unaware of any animosity or basic unfairness towards any of the participants. Those of you looking for revelations of scandal had best look elsewhere. This is an idyll of discovery. Having studied the subject through textbooks, I enjoyed finding out about the twist and turns, the false starts and blind alleys and leaps in the dark that really lay behind the development of the most exciting science of the last half of the twentieth century. Highly recommended.
This book seems to be languishing in obscurity, and I think Judson's book is out of print. This is deplorable. Another reason to purchase it is because feel Operators and Promoters is a good book to dip into and read a few chapters here and a few there, so you will want to have a copy about the house.
Worth purchasing? Definitely

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn Molecular biology from a historical perspective, November 8, 2007

By	BHP (Santa Barbara, Ca) - See all my reviews

For all the molecular biology students out there, here is the scoop. If you are working on or planning on working on some aspect of molecular biology and dont know where to start this is the book for you. If you want to become a serious investigator of biochemistry and molecular biology, and dont know what scientists in your specialized field did before you, this is the book for you. Remember, you cannot make an original contribution to science unless you know what has already been contributed!

The book is similar to the higly acclaimed "eigth day of creation" by H.Judson in that it nicely describes the history of what happened in the field of molecular biology in its earliest years and I bet it will be a lot of fun for someone coming into this field. Where the book differs from the other book is when it looks at events that happened much later in history - more recent events. For example, how did the discovery of ribozyme happen? The book goes into the various experiments that were performed in collaboration with other researchers working in related fields. Whats most impressive to this reviewer is that the book cites specific original research articles everytime it makes a bold statement like "this is how the discovery of ribozyme was made" which makes it very easy to get the article and put things in historical perspective (look at the extensive "Notes" section). You will also remember both the experiments that were performed to derive at the original contribution and the scientist. you can take my word, you will not forget either!

Last but not the least, the book has nice pencil illustrations of scientists who made the big contributions and it is essential to relate the scientists with the science. For someone that is not in science, this book will take some effort to read but is definitely not overwhelming. There is a glossary at the end of the book which I bet will be extremely helpful for the non-specialist reader. Overall this book is a gem and will be in my permanent collection.